* Rose Oud starts with a powerful punch of oud and rose mixed together. It is strong and projects loudly.
* Oud is a resin from southeast Asian evergreen trees that have been infected by a mold. It is rare, expensive, and highly prized in Indian and Arabic cultures.
* After wearing it a few times, I’ve noticed that top sometimes gets a little soapy on me as well, while most of the time it is Rose and Oud.
* As the scent calms down into the heart notes – the rose and oud stay present, joined by honey and cinnamon. Oud acts as the base, with the sweeter notes making a nice contrast.
* The base notes mirror the heart with the addition of a bit more sweetness, with either butterscotch or vanilla coming in to play. This is by no means an edible gourmand, but a quite pleasant sweetness combining with a more subtle rose and oud.
Summary: Combining a classical female note, rose, with a classically male note, oud, is quite brilliant and the contrast makes this quite a unique and sophisticated scent. Rose Oud is one of four oud scents from By Killian along with Pure Oud, Incense Oud, and the recently released Amber Oud. A limited edition Extreme Oud is apparently only available in the middle east. This is a great nighttime fragrance as its way too much for the office. It’s extremely sexy in a seductive, not sleazy, kind of way. As the scent is quite expensive, you will definitely want to skin test it a few times before going for a full bottle.
By Kilian Rose Oud is available from Luckyscent, Aedes and Saks Fifth Avenue.